Jazz Reviews : An Eclectic Evening With Pianist Scott Cossu

Pianist Scott Cossu’s two-day booking at Bon Appetit Friday and Saturday provided an unusual opportunity to hear this New Age-identified performer in a small-club setting. But Friday night’s late set confirmed that almost any labeling of the eclectic Cossu is going to have trouble sticking.

Two of the pieces he played were fundamental, down-home blues. Another was a dark and funky Horace Silver line, with only an opening solo impromptu recalling the floating harmonies and rhythmic stasis associated with most New Age music.

In the evening’s better moments, Cossu’s soloing could be more accurately described as world music. Clearly, his ease with unusual meters, as well as his ability to handle disjunct, non-Western music accents are among his greatest strengths. Given that fact, one wondered why so many of the pieces he elected to play in this particular performance tended to avoid those aspects--the most innovative aspects--of his playing.

Nonetheless, there were highlights, both in Cossu’s soloing and in his compositions. “Releve,” a gently dancing melody overflowing with balletic references, illustrated Cossu’s ability to compose pieces with rich visual qualities. “Red Silk,” a bit more emotionally dense, heightened its effect with a series of almost hypnotic repetitions.

On the debit side, Cossu continued to play more busily than he has to, or should. At least four or five times during the set, this listener found himself wishing that the pianist would give the non-stop eighth notes a well-deserved holiday. Cossu is too good to feel he must play everything he knows in every solo.